


72 Hours

by sweetkpopfan



Series: Now That You're One of Us, You Have to Deal With Us [10]
Category: NCT (Band), NINE PERCENT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Blood and Violence, Depictions of Sex, Explosions, Explosives, Gangs, Guns, Hospitals, Kidnapping, Laboratories, M/M, Smoking, Swearing, mafia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-25
Updated: 2019-10-25
Packaged: 2021-01-02 18:31:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21166193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetkpopfan/pseuds/sweetkpopfan
Summary: They have 72 hours to save Xiaojun. Mark's real identity is compromised and Johnny turns to Double Y for a favor.





	72 Hours

**Author's Note:**

> i have done my best to proofread but there are probably still errors there, so don't mind them, they don't lend anything to the story XD
> 
> Also, this is a long one, so settle in

** _After The Funeral_ **

“It’s too cold.” Johnny shivered as he stepped outside onto the balcony on a chilly night. “Come back in Tae.”

“In a minute.” Taeyong mumbled, the cigarette still dangling between his lips as he wrapped himself in his woven blanket. “I’m not done.”

“It’s fucking 2am babe.” Johnny sighed. “I thought you would be exhausted. We have had a long day today with the funeral and all.”

“You can go to bed first. I don’t think I can sleep for a while.”

“If it helps you can still ride me. Just because my right hand is out of motion doesn’t mean my dick is.”

Taeyong snorted but he shook his head. Johnny kissed his forehead as he went back in. Minutes later, it was Kun’s turn to come out and join him.

“Has everyone left?”

“Yeah.” Kun nodded. “Mark’s taking the kids home and Taeil left with Jisung and Chenle an hour before.”

“What about you?”

“I don’t think I’ll go back yet.” Kun took the cigarette box on the banister. “Can I?”

Taeyong automatically handed out his lighter. There was a certain kind of comfort that came with having worked with each other for so long. Kun was one of the very first people Taeyong scouted when he formed his gang, and it wasn’t because he was a doctor. It was because Kun was discreet and he was trustworthy. He was not as involved in gang matters as Johnny or Doyoung, but it was precisely because of that Taeyong felt like he could turn to Kun as a third eye. Every process on earth needs checks and balances. Kun was that to him.

“This week sucks.” Taeyong said.

“Yeah.”

“How’s Xiaojun?”

“Xiaojun?”

“Yeah, you were always closer to him than I was.”

“He’s hanging on.” Kun said. “I think it gets better every day.”

“Not for me.” Taeyong admitted. “Not for me.”

“You are not to blame for what happened Tae.” Kun said. “She was going to die, her death was inevitable.”

“Xiaojun didn’t need to see that. He didn’t need to see his only parent die before him.” Taeyong balled his fist. “I promised her that. I would have at least been able to keep that if Mark didn’t let him sneak in.”

“How did you expect him to say no anyways?” Kun puffed out a cloud of smoke. “Mark is just like you. He is as soft hearted as you are.”

“I have this nagging feeling.” Taeyong winced. “That something is wrong.”

“What is?”

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe you’re just tired.”

Taeyong wanted to believe that. He wanted to believe he was just tired and all of this was a hallucination. There were so many unanswered questions. What was Ms Chen’s original intention? Did she hide anything on Xiaojun? What was Nine Percent doing here?

“Maybe.” He said.

“You should get some rest.” Kun said. “We all do. It’s been very tough on us.”

“You can go first.” Taeyong did not have the habit of resting before everyone else. He could never sleep easy knowing one of his people could be at risk. Kun snuffed out his cigarette and leaned forward to give him a hug.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Kun said, sneaking a kiss on Taeyong’s forehead to comfort him. Taeyong reciprocated and kissed him on top of his ear. He watched Kun leave his mansion from the balcony just as he finished his cigarette.

It would be one of the last few nights he would be able to sleep well.

***************************

“Oh fuck,” Doyoung moaned as he curled his fingers in Jaehyun’s hair. “So close…”

“Me too babe.” Jaehyun kissed his shoulder as he felt stars in his eyes. “Wanna come?”

“So badly. I wanna come please…” Doyoung whined and pleaded as his stomach tightened into a hot knot and a flash of white burst into his vision. He held onto Jaehyun as he slowly rode out his orgasm before toppling to the side, body limp with exhaustion. He reached for the cigarette box on his nightstand while Jaehyun got up to check himself in the mirror.

“So now are you going to let me have the ceremony in Monti?” Jaehyun asked.

Doyoung blew out a puff of smoke. “No.”

“Oh come on.” Jaehyun ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “I just fucked you into oblivion and you still won’t let me have my reception choice?”

“Why can’t we just have it in Taeil’s place?” Doyoung pouted. “It’s so cozy and romantic, and it’s the same place you proposed to me in.”

“Yes but it’s also small. We couldn’t fit 250 people in that venue.”

“Why do we even need 250 people?” Doyoung said. “One quarter is there for the food, one quarter of them are people we don’t actually like, one quarter of them are people we don’t even know and the other quarter are people we do like.”

“We still have family, which quarter do they belong in?”

“You pick.” Doyoung smirked. “I know where Uncle Kevin is going.”

“Okay maybe we can trim the guest list a little bit.” Jaehyun climbed onto bed with him and took the cigarette from Doyoung into his mouth. “But Monti is really pretty. It’s romantic, the food is good and you like the place.”

“I do but it seems so impersonal.” Doyoung pouted. “I was kind of hoping for an intimate ceremony.”

“What, like you, me and the priest?”

“Doesn’t even need to be a priest. We could just get like a dog and a ring in between his teeth.”

Jaehyun laughed. “You would like that?”

“Okay maybe not but my point is, it doesn’t have to be big.”

“But I want a big wedding.”

“Why?”

“It’ll be fun!”

“It’s a pain.”

“I have some high school friends I want to invite and rub it in their faces like ‘HAH! Remember the boy you called gay in high school? First of all, you’re right. Second of all, look at the hot piece of ass he managed to catch.’.”

“Is that what I am?” Doyoung cackled. “Some kind of trophy husband?”

“Hey, not everyone gets to marry a beautiful, handsome, smart, rich man like yourself.” Jaehyun reached for his hand. “So maybe I am proud and kind of want to show you off a little. Is that a crime?”

“You sleazy son of a bitch.” Doyoung smiled as he wrapped an arm around Jaehyun.

“Did I get that right?”

“You forgot hot.”

“Oh yes, hot. Of course.”

“And successful.”

“Successful. Got it.”

“Great kisser.”

“That indeed.”

“Sensuous hips.”

“Definitely.”

“Powerful stamina.”

“Oh I don’t know about that,” Jaehyun rolled his eyes. “I’ve seen you run a lap around the field. You’re not exactly a marathon runner.”

“That’s because,” Doyoung kissed him as he moved down. “My stamina is saved for the bedroom.”

Jaehyun’s eyes rolled into the back of his head when a knock came on the door. “Jae? Doie? You guys decent?”

“No.” the couple replied back curtly.

“Okay.” Ten opened the door and walked in like it was nobody’s business. Doyoung squirreled back under the covers while Jaehyun covered his lower half.

“Ten!!!” Doyoung yelled. “We already said we weren’t decent.”

“And I didn’t say I was coming in, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t.” Ten shrugged. “Taeyong wants an update on Xiaojun’s visa.”

“You couldn’t bother to send a text about that?” Doyoung growled at his best friend as he pulled the blanket higher up his chest.

“I could but Tae said it was urgent.”

“Well barging in like this isn’t going to make me hurry the fuck up.” Doyoung snapped.

“Do you know or not?”

“It’s in progress okay?”

“Jesus fine, don’t get your little lace panties with pink bows in a bunch up your mouth.” Ten mocked him. “Just call him ASAP.”

“How did you know about the lace panties thing?” Jaehyun asked.

“I know all and see all.” Ten smirked. “You can’t hide anything from me, like the fact that Jaehyun wears them sometimes.”

“YOU WHAT?!” Doyoung turned to Jaehyun and screeched.

“I don’t know why people say I am the weirdest.” Ten shook his head. “Do you even know the freaks you share your underwear with?”

Ten was thrown out of the room and effectively barred from Doyoung and Jaehyun’s apartment for the next year.

***************************

“So I told Mrs Wong that if she expected us to finish that assignment in two weeks she better hook me up with a better partner. I am not going to do the work for Felix again, it’s not fair!!” Donghyuck complained as he, Xiaojun, Jeno, Renjun and Jaemin walked towards the campus exit. The day was over and it was finally time to go home. Donghyuck had spent the past 15 minutes complaining about an upcoming assignment he said was ‘useless’ and ‘abusive’.

“I need to head over to my part time job at the gym.” Jeno checked his watch. “See y’all later at Taeil’s café?”

“Sure.” Donghyuck nodded. “Jaemin, Renjun?”

“I’m going back to my place first.” Renjun said.

“English class in an hour.” Jaemin shrugged.

“Okay, I guess we’ll head back first.” Donghyuck said. “You okay with that Xiaojun?”

“Huh?” Xiaojun looked up from his phone like a deer caught in headlights. “Uh sure.”

“See you guys soon.” The five of them parted ways. Donghyuck, being as chatty as ever, went on about something until he realized Xiaojun was no longer listening, instead he was staring at his phone and typing away.

“Who are you texting?”

“Uh…no one.” Xiaojun tried to hide his phone but Donghyuck’s eyes were quick to spot.

“I see a name and it starts with H.”

“No it doesn’t.” Xiaojun tried to move away but Donghyuck pulled him back.

“Oh come on, spill it. We have been roommates for the past two months for heaven’s sake. You can tell me.”

“It’s no one special.”

“Then you should be able to tell me.” Donghyuck’s eyes widened. “Is it Harry from the astronomy club?”

“No.”

“Is it…”

“It’s Hendery.” Xiaojun blurted out, face turning pink.

“Who’s Hendery?”

“Chenle’s cousin, remember him?”

“The one who looks like a donkey?”

“He does not!” Xiaojun slapped his arm and whined.

“Hey donkeys can be handsome!” Donghyuck said. “I used to be called Donkey too because of my name, anyways, you have been texting him?” Donghyuck raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“Yeah, we exchanged numbers during the funeral. He said I could call him for anything.”

“Hmm,” Donghyuck smirked. “And how is that going?”

“It’s fine.” Xiaojun started to stutter a little. “He’s a nice guy.”

“Do you think he’s cute?”

“Well, he’s not bad…”

“Oh I know where this is going,” Donghyuck sing-songed annoyingly. “I was like that when I had my first boyfriend. I was like ‘oh yeah he’s kinda cute but we’re totally just friends, don’t take it the wrong way’.”

“It’s nothing serious.” Xiaojun pouted. “We’re just friends.”

“That’s very true, but the question is, do you want to be more than friends?” Donghyuck pushed him playfully.

Xiaojun was red in the face until he stopped somewhere. It was a simple corn dog stand at the side of the road, selling corn dogs to high school kids.

“What’s up?”

“Corn dogs.” Xiaojun mumbled. “My mum loved them.”

Donghyuck never said anything about Xiaojun’s unfortunate loss because he was never good with words of grief. He turned to Xiaojun and at the stall and back again, watching him look at the stall wistfully, as if waves of memories were flooding over him.

“Do you want some?” Donghyuck offered.

“Sure.” Xiaojun smiled a little.

“Stay here, I’ll get you some.” Donghyuck said as he ran to get some corndogs. He wasn’t even a big fan of them but anything to make Xiaojun happy. “Ketchup?” he asked as he turned around. Xiaojun nodded happily.

It took him a couple of minutes because of the kids in front of him, but soon he got the corndogs and he walked back to Xiaojun, only to realize he was no longer there.

“Xiaojun?” he called. “Xiaojun?”

There was no reply. He felt a chill up his spine. “Xiaojun? Xiaojun?”

He turned a corner and Xiaojun was nowhere to be found. Panic started to seep in, but nothing could prepare him for what came next. He walked up the road and saw a man being tied up in a burlap sack and carried off to a van by masked men. The man wore very familiar sneakers and Donghyuck dropped the corn dogs in horror.

“STOP!!!” Donghyuck screamed. The masked men pushed Xiaojun inside the van and started to drive off. Donghyuck ran after the van in top speed. A man stuck his head out of the side and bullets started ricocheting off the side of the walls.

“FUCK!!!” Donghyuck fell on his side as he ducked a bullet, but quickly got up to run again. He could feel blood trickling down his face, and he can only hope it was from the fall and not the bullet grazing his skin.

The van turned a corner and Donghyuck came upon a group of high school kids on their bicycles. He grabbed one of them, a smaller kid with glasses. “I need to use your bike!”

“What the…” the kid struggled but Donghyuck pushed him off and pulled out some cash from his wallet before throwing them on the floor. “National emergency kid, I’ll return this to you later! Go get a corn dog, bye!”

The kid yelled after him but Donghyuck pedaled after the van. The driver tried to lose him, ducking through alleys and speeding through residential towns, almost frightening a poor grandfather to death. Donghyuck tried to reach his phone to call Mark but he couldn’t lose sight of the van. The passenger in the front pulled out his gun again and shot near Donghyuck’s bicycle tyre.

“Shit!” he wobbled to the side and was forced to stop. The bicycle was fine but in that split second, he lost the van.

“No no no no!!!” Donghyuck started shouting as he ran further up but the van had disappeared. _Mark… I need to call Mark…_

“What is going on?” a mother carrying a young child went out of her house to the back alley. “Are you okay?”

“Mark…” Donghyuck breathed as he called Mark’s number.

“Hello?”

“Mark!” Donghyuck panted, his breathing becoming increasingly labored. “Xiaojun…he’s…”

“Hyuckie? What’s wrong? What happened?”

“Xiaojun…taken… gone…”

“What?” Mark’s voice escalated.

“Masked men… van… kidnapped…”

“Shit Donghyuck where are you?”

“Oh my god you’re bleeding!” the mother exclaimed. Donghyuck looked at his phone and saw a huge patch of blood on the screen from where he pressed it against his face. He touched his neck and he could feel blood streaming down his neck.

“Donghyuck!! Baby answer me!!! WHERE ARE YOU?!?!”

Donghyuck couldn’t answer. His body slumped onto the ground and blood touched the tar on the road.

***************************

There are different levels of emergency. Running out of rice when it’s time for dinner? That’s probably level one. Trying to have sex and realizing you didn’t have a condom? That’s a level two. Building burning down? Probably level 5. Earthquake followed by a typhoon? Let’s give that level 10. Your mother sending you a text saying ‘GET YOUR ASS HOME NOW? That’s definitely level 50.

Lee Taeyong sending a beeper message with the letters CODE RED? That is the ultimate level.

“What’s wrong?” Taeyong stormed into the VIP hospital room, the same one Donghyuck was hospitalized in years ago. Kun was already attending to him while Mark stood by his side holding his hand. The college student was bandaged and conscious, but his eyes were red and puffy from crying.

“They took him.” Mark said.

“Who?”

“Nine Percent.” Kun said, his face harden with anger. “They took Xiaojun.”

“They took him on our way home.” Donghyuck spoke weakly but he started to cry. “I just wanted to get him a corn dog.”

“Donghyuck,” Taeyong pushed the curtains aside and reached for him. “Tell me everything, from the very beginning.”

“We were going home from class.” Donghyuck sniffled. “We saw a corn dog stand and Xiaojun said his mum loved corn dogs. I told him I would get some so I asked him to wait for me. When I turned around he was gone.”

“Fuck.” Taeyong cursed. By this time, Jaehyun, Doyoung, Yuta, Sicheng, Ten, Johnny, Lucas and Jungwoo had started to arrive.

“What did they look?” Doyoung asked.

“There were two masked men.” Donghyuck tried to recall what he saw. “They put a burlap sack over him and carried him into a van. I could see his feet sticking out. They drove down the street and they tried to shoot me. I fell down…”

“That’s how he got injured.” Kun said.

“Then I stole a kid’s bike,” Donghyuck continued. “I tried to chase after the van but they shot another bullet and I lost my balance and stopped. Then I lost them.”

“Where was the last place you lost them?”

“I think it was Elm Street, after the house no.6.” Donghyuck said.

“It was. That’s where I found you.” Mark said.

“You heard him.” Taeyong turned to his gang members. “Jaehyun, Johnny I want you to head over to Elm Street and pick up where he left off, ask for witness accounts. Sicheng, check the CCTV cameras for any footage of them. Lucas and Jungwoo, head over to the airport and make sure they do not leave this country. Ten, Doyoung I want you to check the hotels Nine Percent were last spotted at and any other location in this city. I want no stone left unturned. Yuta, you and Mark stay here to guard Donghyuck. Since he was the only witness, they might come after him.”

“What?!” Donghyuck cried.

“I won’t let them hurt you.” Mark squeezed his hand. “I promise.”

“I want updates in the next 4 hours. Go.” With a simple wave of his hand, the group dispersed immediately. “Now,” Taeyong turned to Donghyuck, “I need you to tell me what else you remember.”

“I…” Donghyuck winced a little. “I don’t…”

“He’s bleeding,” Kun said. “He can’t be expected to remember everything.”

“Alright, if you do, let us…”

“The van’s plate number.” Donghyuck blinked.

“You remember? What is it?” Mark leaned closer.

“95634.”

“You got that?” Taeyong asked Yuta.

“On it. I’m calling Johnny and Doyoung now.”

“I’ll search the CCTV’s for a speeding van with the plate number 95634 in the past 3 hours.”

“It was white with a black bumper.” Donghyuck squinted as he tried to remember. “It has paint scratches near the wheel, and a very old Mercedes logo tacked onto the back.”

“Got it.” Sicheng typed quickly.

“Anything else?” Taeyong asked him.

“I can’t…” Donghyuck shook his head an sighed.

“You did good kid, you did good.” Taeyong patted him.

“Alright, we need to let him rest.” Kun said as he shooed Taeyong and Yuta out. He pulled the curtains around the bed and he let Mark stay beside him.

“You gave me a heart attack.” Mark breathed in what felt like forever as his hands shook in Donghyuck’s.

“I seem to be frequenting hospitals more often after I became your boyfriend.” Donghyuck chuckled weakly. “I can hear my health insurance guy weeping.”

“This isn’t funny Donghyuck. You could have died.”

“No I wouldn’t.”

“He was pointing a gun at you.”

“He was kidnapping my friend!” Donghyuck said. “I would have done it even if I didn’t know about this whole mafia business.”

Mark sighed deeply. “I should have walked you home. I should have skipped my basketball training.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. None of this is your fault.”

“Of course it is, if you hadn’t… if I…”

“Mark Lee Minhyung if you say what I think you are going to say I’m going to make you lie in this bed with the bandage instead of me.” Donghyuck glared at him.

“But it’s true.”

‘’We have been over this.”

“Donghyuck…”

“Shut up your voice is giving me a headache.” Donghyuck winced again. “It was an accident okay? And if you haven’t noticed, I am a reckless idiot who can’t be trusted to do anything rational. I know you’re trying to protect me but it’s not your fault, and I’m fine. I swear.”

“That’s the first time I heard you drag yourself.” Mark smiled a little. “Is this character progress?”

“I think it’s the morphine.” Donghyuck mumbled. “Kun needs to up my dosage. I’m talking shit.”

Mark just laughed, and it was also because he had no idea what else to do. He kissed Donghyuck tenderly.

“You need to get him.” Donghyuck said.

“We will.” Mark said. “We’ll get him.”

***************************

Taeyong could recall the day he started his mafia business like it was yesterday. As a young, eager and broke student, Taeyong started with porn clips. He made amateur porn shots of himself, and then moved on to making amateur porn of others. He posted them on his own porn website and earned commissions from subscribers. He got so good that he had to stop becoming an amateur porn maker and become a proper pornographer. He got his first taste of the underground with Jung Yunho, the notorious gang leader and former yakuza in Japan. Yunho wanted to spread his wings and tap into the pornography market. Taeyong was looking for a backer. It was a match made in heaven.

The partnership was great at first, and Taeyong was making so much money he brought a house for his parents and paid for his sister’s honeymoon. However, Yunho was demanding and greedy, soon he started fighting and arguing with Taeyong. A year later, Taeyong got sick of Yunho’s bullshit and killed him. He was the only man with enough balls and smarts to outwit the tall gangster and he beat him by poisoning the food he ate.

Free from his reigns and having scared off most of Yunho’s original gang members, Taeyong took over Yunho’s club. It was called Leather and Chain, which was a horrible name for anything. He stripped down it’s walls, redecorated the whole place and from a dirty, dinghy cheap bar with stripper poles and cocaine on the walls, he turned it into a classy, high profile men’s club. The cocaine was now served on a silver platter and the sex was private instead of in the open. He decided to name the club after his favourite villain: someone flashy yet twisted inside. He named it The Joker.

To protect his business, he needed people he could trust. Ten was his best friend and loyal porn actor, so he was hired. Johnny was an angry American with a bad temper and access to dangerous weapons. Yuta was originally an accountant in a Japanese firm. He was sick of his 9 to 5 job and he hated his boss so he quit and joined the gang, where he earned twice as much and got to do whatever he wanted.

Yes, Yuta was an accountant. He had a normal life.

They all did. Every one of them was doing something else before they joined. Doyoung was, and still is, a lawyer. Jaehyun ran away from home after he came out to his parents. Jungwoo and Lucas were ex-militia who fell in love overseas. Mark was an orphan. Sicheng was a runaway from Nine Percent. Kun was the doctor he went to after a gang fight and he joined them not too long afterwards.

Sometimes Taeyong wondered what he would be doing if he didn’t choose this route. What if he finished his degree in marketing and got a normal job? Maybe he would have gotten a wife and kids, holidays in the country and stuff like that. He wouldn’t be risking his life or anybody else’s. He would be normal.

_ “I chose this life to make a difference.” Ms Chen said, the night she died as she replied Taeyong’s question of why she chose to be such a controversial figure. “I could have been normal. A single mother with a beautiful son. A professor with a stable job. Anyone would want that, but not me. I have never wanted normalcy. I wanted to stand out and shine, to burn like the flames in the night before I leave this world. I only have one life. If I don’t burn now, I will never burn again.”_

_ “Is it worth it?” he asked her._

_ “To know my actions can change a person’s life, or even save them, yes, it is very much worth it.” She said. “You matter to someone. Because of you, someone is alive. That is the greatest gift you can receive, and the greatest honor you can ever be bestowed upon.”_

“Have something to eat.” Taeil offered Taeyong and Sicheng some pastries. The café was closing down but Taeyong and Sicheng have been sitting there for the past few hours. “You have been staring at that cup for a long time now.”

“Thank you, but I’m not hungry yet.”

“Is everything alright?” Taeil asked.

“I don’t know.” Taeyong bit his lip. “Business is messy.”

“I know how you feel, my business isn’t always swimmingly amazing either.” Taeil chuckled. “Thankfully I have you and your friends to support me. You guys have been some of the best customers I have ever had.”

“Thank you.” Taeyong smiled weakly. “Sorry we’re taking up so much space, I just needed to get away from work to clear my head.”

“Yeah, we’ll leave soon.”

“It’s alright. Take all the time you need, I still have to clear my kitchen.” Taeil reassured them as he headed back in.

A few minutes later, Doyoung and Ten came into the café. “Taeyong?”

“This better be good news.” Taeyong turned his head.

“Well don’t hold your breath because we don’t have any.” Ten said as he sat down opposite him at the table. “Ooh, buns and cakes.” He licked his lips.

“The van was found abandoned behind a gas station outside of the city.” Doyoung handed him some photographs. “We went inside. Nothing.”

“Have you set up a search team?”

“Jaehyun is arranging for our contacts to help out. We’re looking at abandoned warehouses, factories or even huts and houses.”

“I checked the hotel rooms we last spotted them in. They had already checked out.”

“Airports?”

“We’ve asked Chaeyeon so she’ll keep a look out for us but no sign of them currently. We will be notified the minute these guys are spotted anywhere near the airport.”

“Did you guys find him?!” a shrill voice asked as Donghyuck barged into the cafe, his head still bandaged.

“What are you doing here?!” Ten stared at him in surprise.

“I wrote him off for an early release.” Kun said as he trailed behind Donghyuck, Mark and Yuta.

“Why?”

“Because he was getting on our nerves.” Yuta rolled his eyes. “He insisted on being released. It was either we let him go, or we kill him.”

“Of course I wanted to get out, my friend is missing!” Donghyuck snapped. “Please tell me you found him.”

Sicheng sighed and shook his head. Donghyuck balled his fist up. “Damn it.”

“What is everyone doing here? We ran all over to find you guys.”Jaehyun asked in shock as he entered the cafe with Johnny. “What is he doing out of hospital?”

“That’s everybody’s golden question.” Taeyong sighed. “Listen, we need to…”

“Mark, some of your friends are coming.” Jaehyun said.

“What?!” Mark gasped.

“Yeah I think they followed you from the apartment.”

“Donghyuck?” Renjun looked inside and ran to his best friend, followed by Jaemin, Jeno, Chenle and Jisung. “Oh my god what happened to you?!?!”

“What are you guys doing here!” Mark tried to push them out.

“Fuck you Mark! You didn’t tell us Donghyuck was injured!!” Renjun pushed him back.

“How could you do that to us?!” Jeno argued at him.

Pretty soon the kids were fighting and Kun was yelling at Chenle. “What are you doing here?!?! How could you bring them here?!?!”

“Why didn’t you tell me Donghyuck was shot?!?” Chenle yelled back.

It was a loud, angry mess and Taeyong tried to calm them down. “Stop it!!!” He screamed over the top of his lungs but it didn’t work. Taeil ran out of the kitchen and was shocked by the sight of people fighting and yelling at one another.

Suddenly, the phone on Taeyong’s table started to ring. Everyone stopped at stared at the phone. Who could be calling at this godforsaken hour?

_Unless…_

“Hello?” Taeyong pushed the speaker button. _If it’s who I think it is…._

“Hyung?” A weak feeble voice came through. Donghyuck scrambled to the phone “Xiaojun!” He tried to call but Mark held him back.

“Xiaojun?” Jeno’s eyes widened in shock. “What’s going on?” He asked but Yuta shushed him.

“Xiaojun? Xiaojun are you okay?”

There was no immediate reply, just a lot of muffled noises and loud breathing. The whole room was silent as they tried to listen in. Mark put a hand over Donghyuck’s mouth in case he screamed and Johnny asked everyone to stay quiet.

“Help me hyung.” Xiaojun begged softly. “Help me.”

“We are coming to get you. Don’t worry.” Taeyong said soothingly to calm the boy. “Do you know where you are?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” A deeper, more masculine voice came through and he clenched his fist.

“Fuck you Cai Xukun.” Taeyong snapped. “Where is he?”

“I think you can find that out for yourself. I am sure you had this call tapped the minute I rang.”

Taeyong gulped inwardly as he looked at Sicheng and Doyoung who stiffened. He took a deep breath “Hand the phone back over to the boy. I want to talk to him.”

“It’s feeding time.” Xukun said. “Got to keep the boy alive. Not for very long unless you can give us what we want.”

“What? What do you want?”

“The plans.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Don’t play fucking innocent. Ms Chen had a list of high ranking government officials involved in the Uighur camp detention and plans on how to get them out. It wasn’t on her so it must be on her son. We searched him from head to toe and we couldn’t find anything. So where is it?”

“What makes you think we know anything about it?”

“If you want the boy alive, then you’ll find it.” Xukun said. “You have 72 hours.”

“And if we don’t?”

“Your boy will be able to visit his mama very soon.”

“You are a heck lot stupider than you give yourself credit for.” Taeyong snapped. “If you want the plans so badly, killing him won’t make it appear again.”

“Probably not, but we can at least sell his organs for parts.” Xukun said nonchalantly. “Besides, there is no way you would fail us. You wouldn’t want us to harm him, would you?”

“See if I care.” Taeyong growled back.

“Okay then, hey Xiaogui!”

A few seconds later, Xiaojun started crying “No no no NOOOO!!!” Sounds of pure pain and anguish came through the phone and Renjun reeled back in horror, tears springing in his eyes. Even Johnny, the man of nerves and steels who didn’t even blink while getting a bullet removed, started to wince.

“Fuck you Xukun.” Taeyong said.

“So you do care.” He could almost hear Xukun’s smirk and he wanted to strangle him with his bare hands. “72 hours Yongie. We’ll be in contact. And don’t call back. We’ll call you.”

“I swear to god,” Taeyong yelled into the phone. “I will make you rue the day you crossed me you piece of…”

The line cut off and a familiar beeping noise came through. Taeyong threw the phone aside and banged his fist against the table.

“What happened?” Jisung asked, his face as white as a sheet. “What happened to Xiaojun hyung?”

“What do we do now?” Ten asked. Everyone looked at Taeyong.

“Get everyone back to headquarters.” Taeyong pulled out a gun from his side. Mark could hear his friends gasping loudly, and even he was taken by surprise. Taeyong never pulls out his gun.

“Tell them it’s a Code Red.” Taeyong cocked his gun. “We are going to war.”

***************************

** _Countdown: 70 hours_ **

“You lied to us!!!”

“Frankly we didn’t lie to you.” Donghyuck sighed. “We just didn’t tell you.”

“How could you?!?!” Renjun berated at him. “We are best friends!!! How could you not tell me?!? We are supposed to confide in each other about everything!!!”

“Hyung, I thought we already established the fact that Mark hyung was in the mafia a long time ago.” Jisung scratched his head in confusion. “Why are you so shocked?”

“I’m not shocked at that,” Renjun snapped. “I’m shocked that my best friend almost died and NO ONE BOTHERED TO TELL ME.”

“Wait you knew my real identity all this time?!” Mark dropped his jaw in shock.

“Bro we have had our suspicions for a long time.” Jeno rolled his eyes.

“The nights you mysteriously disappeared, your club card to Joker, your shifty ass friends coming into Taeil’s café.” Jaemin counted with his fingers. “It’s almost like you weren’t trying to cover your tracks.”

“Also, you guys dirty talk so fucking loudly.” Renjun smirked. “I heard Donghyuck go ‘tie me up and punish me gangster daddy’.”

“Okay that is it I am changing the password on our apartment door.” Donghyuck blushed bright red.

“That’s not the point!! I cannot believe you kept this from us and how the fuck is Xiaojun kidnapped?!??!”

“Holy shit you’re right!” Jeno pushed Mark. “Was it Nine Percent who took him?”

“How did you guys know about that?” Mark’s eyes widened.

“Chenle told us everything.”

“Fuck you Chenle!” Donghyuck spat at the younger who rolled his eyes.

“He’s our friend too! We deserve to know what happen!!”

Lucas and Jungwoo burst into the Joker lounge a few minutes later. “What the fuck just happened?!?”

“We have a ransom call from Xukun.” Taeyong answered as he paced up and down, hand on his chin.

“We have 72 hours or the boy dies.” Johnny said as he checked his watch. “Less than that now.”

“Didn’t you trace the call?”

“We did, but it was to a disposable phone.” Sicheng said. “Xukun isn’t stupid. He won’t stick around in the same place after he made the first call. That is not his gang’s MO.”

“What do we do now?” Jungwoo asked. “And why the heck is Mark’s friends and freaking Moon Taeil here?”

“Hey, the call was answered in my café!” Taeil said. “They could have tracked us for all we know! I am exposed to them too!”

“No you are not Taeil, we’ve told you that.” Doyoung said. “You’ll be fine.”

“Okay fine, let’s pretend I believe you on that.” Taeil glared at him. “The point is, Xiaojun is missing and I like that kid. He works part time for me, and I want to help save him.”

“This isn’t your fight Taeil, go home.” Johnny said. “Mark, get your friends out of here.”

“We are not going anywhere!” Jaemin said. “Xiaojun is our friend too!”

“This is none of your business!” Mark tried to push them but Jeno shoved him back.

“No Mark. We are sick of this. You have always pushed us to the backburner like we are afterthoughts.”

“You cannot get involved in this! Your lives are in danger!” Mark shouted back. “Do you not realize the gravitas of the situation?! This isn’t some GTA kind of shit, this is real life-threatening stuff.”

“Excuse me,” Hendery came into the lounge with a box. “Someone left a parcel in front of the club entrance.”

“Who are you?” Johnny asked.

“He’s my friend.” Chenle said.

“I thought he was your cousin.” Yuta raised an eyebrow.

“Can’t cousins be friends?” Chenle shrugged.

Ten took the box and shook it. “Too light to be a bomb, and no chemical smell.” He put it on the table and started to unwrap it. He opened the lid and let out the loudest, blood curling scream as he whirled back into Johnny’s arms in horror.

“Fuck!” Taeyong reeled back in horror. Mark looked inside and he nearly threw up. It was a severed finger, sitting inside the box and nestled with newspaper.

“Is that…” Jisung tried to look in and turned around immediately, running to Taeil.

“Is that Xiaojun’s finger?!” Renjun asked, trying to hold in the contents of his stomach.

“No.” Kun looked inside and held the finger up. “It’s too thick to be his.”

“What the fuck cuz?” Chenle grimaced. “Put it down!”

“Quit screeching.” Kun rolled his eyes. He pushed the finger aside and picked out a card. “The next finger you get could be his. You have 70 hours left Yongie.” He read.

“Fucking hell.” Taeyong cursed as he held a hand on his chest. “Get rid of it. Now.”

Kun nodded and picked up the box to discard it. “Whose finger was that?” Jungwoo asked.

“I don’t know and I don’t care.” Taeyong gritted his teeth. “All I know is the next time I see a finger, it better be his on a dead body.”

“So what do we do?” Jaehyun asked.

“I say we find out where they are and storm the building.” Lucas suggested.

“No. Too rushed.” Taeyong said. “We are not charging head first without a plan.”

“We only have 70 hours left.” Doyoung said.

“Which is exactly why I need everyone on this.” Taeyong said. “If we are going to rescue him in 70 hours, we are going to need all the help that we can get.”

“We’ll help.” Renjun said.

“Guys…”

“Mark please.” Jaemin said. “He’s our friend.”

“It’s your call Mark.” Taeyong said.

“Mine?”

“They are your friends. You decide what’s best for them.”

Mark turned around to look at them. He looked at Chenle, Jisung, Jaemin, Jeno and Renjun. Then he turned to Donghyuck.

He saw a flashing image of Donghyuck on the ground bleeding. He remembered carrying him to the hospital, thinking he could die. If he let his friends come, he could be seeing 6 bodies instead of one.

_I can’t bring my friends into this. It’s too dangerous. I can’t._

“Hey,” Donghyuck cupped his face and kissed him. “You are not alone.”

“We already know everything.” Jeno said. “You might as well let us help you instead of fight with you.”

“Please Mark.” Jaemin pleaded.

Mark sighed. He turned to Taeyong and nodded. He could never say no to them.

“Hendery comes with me.” Chenle pulled him in. “We’re a pair. You can’t break us apart.”

“Hey, I thought we were a pair.” Jisung pouted.

“Taeil, you should…” Sicheng turned to his favourite barista.

“I’m not going anywhere.” Taeil folded his arms. “Unless you can compensate with another dishwasher, I am not going anywhere.”

“Fine then, but don’t say we didn’t warn you. This is a dangerous job and someone could end up hurt or dead. There will be guns, violence and blood and once you see what we have seen you will never be able to turn away from it. You will be one of us and forever have the mafia tag on your back. You will be shunned by society and seen as a threat to the nation. We don’t give fucks and we stop at nothing to get what we want. If you are not ready for that, I suggest you turn around and leave and don’t ever come back.”

No one in the room moved.

“Okay then.” Taeyong rubbed his hands. “We’ll need a fallout shelter in case this place and our regular warehouse is compromised. If Xiaojun was kidnapped that meant he was followed for days, so it’s likely that our hideout is watched by them. Taeil, is your cafe basement open?”

“Needs a bit of cleaning but you are welcomed to it.” Taeil said. “I also have a smaller storage facility on the upper floor.”

“Perfect. Jaehyun, Yuta and Lucas, I want you to help Taeil to set up the base. Ten and Jungwoo, trace the origins of that box and see if you can find out who sent it. Doyoung, Sicheng and Kun, stay back. Johnny, you and Mark go and see Daniel and Monkey. Tell them Nine Percent is back.

“What about us?” Donghyuck asked.

“Chenle,” Taeyong sighed. “I hate to ask you this, but do you have a bomb?”

“Have them?” Chenle scoffed. “Honey I make them to order.”

“You WHAT?!” Kun screeched.

“Wait, you STILL don’t know?!” Johnny scoffed at him. “And I thought I was clueless.”

“My assistant and I will figure something out.” Chenle said, turning to Hendery. “Tell us your requirements.”

“YOUR ASSISTANT?!” Kun dropped his jaw.

“Dude seriously, will you get your head out of eating Ten’s ass for a moment and live in the now like the rest of us?” Sicheng rolled his eyes only to slap his mouth when he realized what he just said.

“You have been sleeping with Kun?!?!” Lucas stared at Ten in shock.

“Bye y’all!” Ten pulled Jungwoo and rushed out immediately. Kun was blushing deeply while Johnny rolled his eyes.

“What do we do?” Donghyuck asked again. “You still haven’t answered us.”

“I need you guys to do a little digging for me. How far would you like to get your hands dirty?”

“You mean dig up people’s shit and expose their deepest, darkest secrets?” Jaemin gasped. “How indecent.”

“Where do we start?” Renjun asked as he rolled up his sleeves.

***************************

** _Countdown: 55 hours_ **

“So let me try and understand this.” Jeno scratched his head as he leaned forward from the back seat of the car. “You, Ten and Taeyong are in a relationship?”

“It’s an open relationship.” Johnny sighed as he rested his arm against the car arm rest. His cast was removed but it was still tightly bandaged. Kun had advised him not to drive so Yuta was now the one at the wheel.

“So you guys aren’t exclusive?”

“Not predominantly. We are open to seeing each other if we want to. Monogamy is an old fashioned concept that suppresses sexual freedom and expression.”

“So Ten sleeps with Kun?”

“Ten sleeps with everyone.” Yuta laughed.

“You’ve slept with him too?”

“It was a dare.” Yuta said. “I was looking to try something new and Ten offered.”

“Do you sleep with anyone else aside from Ten and Taeyong?” Jeno asked.

“Not really. I got a few blowjobs here and there but not actual sex.”

“So since you sleep with Ten and Taeyong, and Ten sleeps with Kun, do you sleep with Kun too? Is this like a quadruple open relationship?”

“Can’t say I haven’t thought about it.” Johnny admitted.

“You? And Kun?” Yuta scoffed. “Do you even like him?”

“He’s a very attractive man.”

“Well yeah but sexually?”

“You’ve never wondered?” Johnny asked.

“No.” Yuta made a face like he was offended by the idea. “I’m fucking engaged. There is only one ass I want and I am marrying that ass.”

“Good for you then.” Johnny shrugged. “I mean we all talk about it one way or another. Jaehyun is too possessive to sleep with another person. Doyoung thinks everyone aside from Jaehyun are ugly pieces of shit. Lucas and Jungwoo, you and Sicheng are committed to one another and Mark is too much of a prude to join us.”

“Mark is a prude?” Jeno’s voice reached higher. “Have you heard the things that come out of his mouth when it comes to Donghyuck?”

“Whatever it is, you can thank us for that.” Yuta beamed proudly.

“How much further to go?” Johnny asked as they turned a corner into a residential area.

“Just up the road.” Yuta said and they stopped a few minutes later in front of a mansion. “Ready?”

“Yeah.” Johnny said. “I didn’t think this day would come.”

“What day?” Jeno asked.

“The day I have to work with my biggest enemy in racing.”

“Wait who are you coming to see?” Jeno asked again. “Why did you ask me to buy this Nintendo Switch set? By the way this stuff is really cool.” Jeno looked at the gift he was asked to buy. “If he lives in a house like this he can afford his own set.”

“You’ll see.” Johnny said. “We’re buying it for a kid your age.”

They walked up towards the mansion and was stopped briefly by a guard. Yuta checked in on their behalf and they walked up to the door. They rang the doorbell and it was promptly answered by a butler in a crisp tux.

“Good afternoon sirs. How may I help you?” the butler asked with a straight face and a monotone voice.

“We have an appointment with Liu Yangyang.” Johnny said.

“We have an appointment with who?” Jeno whispered to Yuta but he shushed him.

“I heard someone calling for my boy.” A middle aged woman walked out to the door. “Are you looking for my boy?”

“Yes madam.”

“He’s downstairs in the garage.” She smiled politely as she let them in. She pressed a buzzer on the wall. “Honey, your friends are here.”

“Someone explain to me why I am here?” Jeno asked.

“You’re our gift bearer.” Johnny said. “We may need you for something.”

The moment all three of them entered the basement garage, they couldn’t stop going “Woah.” Yangyang’s garage was enough to make Johnny’s look pathetic. In fact it would make a whole Ferrari showroom look like the bathroom of a creepy bar by the docks. Yangyang’s garage was brightly lit and the size of an airplane hangar. Cars of different brands, types and sizes were parked perfectly and almost sparkling under the lights. Trophies and posters of well known racing events lined the walls and photos of Yangyang and famous racers were displayed all over.

“Wow.” Yuta mouthed.

“Holy shit.” Johnny mumbled.

“Who do we have here?” Yangyang came out from a smaller room to greet them. He was surprised to see Johnny, Yuta and a new stranger in his garage. “Oh. It’s you guys.”

“Remember us?” Yuta asked.

“Yeah. Yuta and the former Derby King, and this new guy here.” Yangyang smirked. He had an impish grin and his dark hair was now dyed a dirty blonde. He was wearing a plain white tee and ripped jeans with black sneakers, sneakers which probably cost the same as the Nintendo switch Jeno bought.

“His name is Jeno. He’s with us.”

“Wait a minute, are you Double Y the new Derby King?” Jeno’s eyes widened in shock. “Dude I saw your videos on YouTube. You are fucking viral.”

“That would be me.”

“Congratulations on kicking everyone else’s ass.” Johnny said, gritting his teeth a little. He obviously was not thrilled to have lost in the first place, but he had no choice but to begrudgingly accept. Besides, it was just a simple injury, next year he will be back and the trophy will be his again.

“Thank you.” Yangyang smiled. “The trophy is kind of small though. Not as big as the Grand Prix trophy.”

“I am sorry our pathetic little circuit isn’t up to your international ass standard.” Johnny scowled and Yuta elbowed him.

“So what brings you here?” Yangyang said. “I doubt it would be to congratulate me on my victory.”

“We have a proposition.” Johnny said, drawing out his injured arm from behind him.

“What happened to your arm?”

“Long story, we…” they were interrupted by the intercom buzzing in the garage. Yangyang pressed the button and asked. “What?”

“Do you and your friends want some cookies?” came a loud, motherly voice.

“No ma.” Yangyang rolled his eyes.

“Why not? You guys should be hungry.”

“We don’t want cookies ma.” Yangyang groaned.

“Is this how you treat your guests?” she started to nag. “I raised you to be better than that.”

“Not now ma you’re interrupting us!”

“These cookies are fresh! With chocolate chips and walnuts!” she chirruped cheerfully.

“Ma….” Yangyang whined.

“Ask your friends!”

“No ma…”

“Ask them!”

“Ma….” He whined louder.

“Liu Yangyang!”

“Fine.” He pulled a face as he turned to the gang. “You guys want…”

“Yes please.” They chorused before turning to each other, turning slightly pink.

“They said yes.” Yangyang answered his mother.

“Fantastic! Will that be with coffee or tea or milk?” she asked again.

“MA!!!!”

“Can I have milk Mrs Liu?” Jeno asked loudly.

“Of course my dear!”

“We’ll have coffee for two.” Yuta said.

“No sugar.” Johnny said. “I’m watching my weight.” He turned to Yuta who scowled at him.

“And what about my baby boy?”

“Ma, don’t call me that!!!” Yangyang turned red in embarrassment. “Can I have chocolate milk?”

“German or Mayan?”

“Mayan.” Yangyang answered softly.

“Coming soon! Enjoy!” she ended the call immediately. Yangyang turned to the gang and cleared his throat in embarrassment. “So, you were saying?”

“Can I have the milk cold?” Jeno asked and now it was Johnny’s turn to shove him.

“We were saying,” Yuta started again. “We could use a car.”

“A car?”

“And a driver.” He said. “We need someone fast, adept with an engine as big as his mouth.”

“You’ve come to the right place.” Yangyang folded his arms and smirked as he leaned against his Lamborghini. “What’s it in for me?”

Johnny and Yuta turned to Jeno. “Oh, we have a gift for you.”

“A Nintendo Switch?” Yangyang raised an eyebrow. “Is that the older model? Because I preordered the latest one from Japan.”

“Damn it guys.” Jeno grunted. “I told you.”

“Look, if you do this for us, we’ll owe you.” Johnny said. “This arm was shot by a bullet so I can’t drive. I need a fast driver to replace me. Are you in or not?”

“You’ll owe me? And what exactly is it that you offer?”

“What are you looking for? Drugs? Alcohol? Women? Cause we got lots of that shit.”

Yangyang looked at them for a bit before walking around. It was hard to tell what he was thinking. “You honestly think he’s going to say yes?” Yuta whispered to Johnny.

“Do we have another choice?”

“What am I getting involved in?” Yangyang asked. “I need to know before I put myself into danger.”

“One of our people has been kidnapped.” Johnny said. “We’re on a rescue mission.”

“And what happens if you don’t make it?”

“Nothing. We won’t hold you liable for anything, but we need a driver and we need it quick. So are you in or not?”

“We won’t bother you ever again after this.” Yuta said. “Your precious little image will remain intact.”

“My image is none of your concern.” Yangyang said.

“Excuse me gentlemen,” the butler walked in with a cart of food. “Your refreshments.”

“Thank you.” Yangyang nodded. The food was laid out on a small side table and Jeno nearly drooled all over. The cookies were big and beautiful and he didn’t have much to eat before they left to meet Yangyang (he was told they would have lunch later but at this rate lunch was not going to arrive so soon).

“Wow.” Yuta took a big bite out of the cookies. “This is delicious.”

Johnny nodded and let out a soft moan. “This is like a literal orgasm in my mouth.”

“I like the milk.” Jeno said. “Goes together with the cookies.”

“Try the Mayan chocolate milk. It’s even better.” Yangyang offered.

“Oh my god.” Jeno gasped after smelling it. “I can never have chocolate milk the same way again.”

The four of them ate their cookies and finished their coffee and milk. Yangyang dusted the crumbs off his hand and wiped the edge of his lips. “I get to decide what car to drive.”

“Of course.”

“Let me know when you need me.” Yangyang handed a card over with his number scribbled on it.

“I’m surprised he would say yes.” Jeno confessed when they left the house a few minutes later. “He didn’t seem interested at first.”

“People like him are thrill seekers.” Johnny said. “That’s why we got into street racing in the first place. It’s risky and dangerous but it’s what gives us life.”

“Well what do we do next?” Yuta asked as they got into the car.

“We got the car, and we got the driver.” Johnny smirked. “We still need some heavy artillery.”

“Which is?” Jeno raised an eyebrow.

“Do you like guns Jeno?” Yuta asked.

“I’ve never seen one.”

“Good, because you are about to learn how to use one.” Yuta said as they pulled out and drove off.

***************************

** _Countdown: 36 hours_ **

“Find anything?” Donghyuck asked he closed the wardrobe in Xiaojun’s room and walked out.

“Don’t rush me.” Renjun shushed him as he flipped through some papers on a table. “Just because I can read Chinese doesn’t mean I can read it fast.”

“If we don’t find anything here then we need to go back to the hotel room Ms Chen originally stayed.” Doyoung said as he peered into the trash bin. “She might have left something behind.”

“It’s been well over two months.” Jaemin said. “What if hotel cleaning discarded it by accident?”

“Nine Percent could have searched her room too when she died. If they found something there they would have taken it and left him alone.” Donghyuck said.

“You’re right.” Doyoung huffed. “It must be with him.”

“This boy collects a lot or receipts.” Renjun said. “Food receipts, shopping receipts, a receipt for women’s bras and lingerie.” He made a face. “I didn’t know he was straight.”

“He probably uses them to keep track of his expenses. That lingerie one could be his mum’s.” Donghyuck said as he walked back into his room. “I keep my receipts all the time.”

“And what’s on them? Junk food and video games?” Jaemin asked.

“Duh, what else am I supposed to live on?”

“I found Xiaojun’s laptop in a drawer under his table.” Ten said. “We’re going to need Sicheng to hack this.”

“I can do that.” Jaemin said. “It shouldn’t be too difficult.”

“You can hack?” Doyoung’s eyes widen.

“Jaemin is an engineer. He’s great with tech.” Renjun beamed. “Plus he can code as well.”

“That’s fantastic.” Ten said. “Get us inside and we’ll read the information with you.”

“I found some books on his nightstand.” Donghyuck said. “They look like puzzles.”

“They are.” Renjun went inside and picked them up. “These are childhood puzzles we play in China.”

“Some of these look a little advanced though.”

“Xiaojun said his mum left him alone for long periods of time because of work so she bought him books to keep him company.” Renjun sighed. “The poor lad.”

“How much more do we have to go?”

“There’s not much left.” Donghyuck said. “We have been to the campus, Taeil’s café and this is the last place. If we don’t find anything here we won’t find anything anywhere else.”

“If you think about it, do you honestly think Ms Chen is going to leave notes for her son on a piece of paper like a family recipe?” Jaemin said. “She would have hidden it.”

“Well it wasn’t on him physically. Nine Percent couldn’t find anything.” Doyoung said.

“Maybe he knew the names by heart and destroyed the evidence.”

“That could be possible.” Renjun agreed.

“We only have the laptop to go on.” Ten said. “Hopefully we can find something.”

“What do we do if we can’t?” Donghyuck asked.

“Well we have 36 hours left.” Ten sighed. “Let’s see what happens then.”

*************************** 

** _Countdown: 30 hours left_ **

It had been a long time since Taeyong had to wait for a phone call. No one, not even his ex boyfriends have ever made him wait. If anything, Taeyong was the one who keeps people waiting. He stood up and paced around, leaning against the cold basement wall.

“Anybody want something to drink?” Taeil offered as the gang sat around his basement, all looking at the phone on the table.

“What do you have?”

“Well there’s tea and coffee…”

The phone rang on his desk and Tayeong flew to pick it up. “Hello?”

“Good morning sir, may I introduce you to…”

“Damn it.” Taeyong hung up. “It’s not him.”

“This doesn’t make any sense.” Johnny scratched his head. “There are only 30 hours left. How the fuck do you tell us to do something but not follow up?”

“Maybe we have to show some indication that we have found it.” Jaehyun suggested.

“Let’s just wait a little longer.” Doyoung said. “He’ll show up soon.”

Three hours later and there was still no word. The café was already closed and it was close to 11pm. Everyone was tired and exhausted. Johnny was yawning repeatedly. Renjun and Jeno had fallen asleep on a pile of papers. Jaemin was blinking repeatedly and even Yuta was closing his eyes shut. Taeyong looked around and saw how tired everyone was.

“Let’s go.” He said and heads started to stir awake. “Time to get some rest.”

“But…”

“We have been at this for the past 40 something hours. There is no use trying to save someone on little to no sleep.” He said. “Let’s go.”

The gang started to leave the café. Sicheng helped Taeil close up and everyone was tired. Mark was driving his friends home while Yuta was dropping Sicheng and Taeil off. Taeyong walked to his car with Johnny when he felt something hit his feet.

“Sorry sir.” A small boy was running towards him. Taeyong picked up the small car and smiled. “It’s okay kiddo.”

“Thank you.” He bowed and shook his hand. The little boy ran away with his car and Taeyong felt something in his hands. He looked down and was found a piece of paper with a set of strange numbers, and a familiar 9% at the end.

_Coordinates._

_ Nine Percent._

He looked up and the kid had already disappeared. He grabbed Johnny’s arm instinctively.

“What? What’s wrong?”

“Can you go home with Ten?” Taeyong said. “I’ll take the car.”

“Where are you going?”

“Somewhere.” Taeyong said. “Leave the beeper on.”

“Are you sure?”

“Trust me.” Taeyong shushed him. “Just go.”

Taeyong got into his car and keyed in the coordinates into the GPS system. He checked it’s location and called Kun.

“Hello?”

“Kun? Are you still at the hospital?”

“Yes of course.”

“I need you to do something for me.”

***************************

Hospitals at night are terrifying places to be. The lights are dim because it’s nighttime and the hallways are so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Many doctors and staffs are off duty and those that remain are in their offices. There are no guests walking about, hardly any in-patients waiting to see a doctor and those that are in the hospital are fast asleep.

Taeyong didn’t understand why his coordinates took him to the hospital. Why would Xukun ask to meet in a hospital? His initial reaction was Xiaojun was in the hospital but he called Kun and Kun said he could not find Xiaojun’s name or anyone resembling him on the register.

The lift to the hospital floor opened and he was surprised to see that it was the maternity ward. It was dimly lit and the nurse at the front counter didn’t even blink at him. She was more concerned with the drama she was watching on her phone.

Taeyong walked out and stopped in front of the baby nursery. Tiny little babies, wrapped in pink and blue blankets lying in their see-through cribs, blissfully unaware of the world. Taeyong watched them for a bit and felt his heart sink. _This world they are about to walk into is so deeply fucked._

“Do you like kids?”

“I do.” Taeyong calmly turned his head to find Cai Xukun. He was much skinnier than he remembered and his golden locks from before was now black. He has just as many piercings as Ten.

“Do you have any?”

“You should know if I do.” Taeyong said. “You snatched a boy from under my nose, you knew where I was to drop me a message. I wouldn’t be surprised if you knew how many tattoos I have.”

“Do you think I don’t have better things to do than look at naked photos of you?” Xukun scoffed. “Which by the way, is very impressive.”

“Thanks.”

“Do you still do porn?”

“Of course not.”

“My men had fun looking for you.” Xukun walked closer to him, his height towering his. Taeyong lifted his head naturally to look at him and Xukun hovered a finger under his chin. “Who knew such a pretty little thing in bed could…”

Taeyong slapped his hand away. “You may have seen my naked body but you don’t get to touch me. Where is he?”

“Where’s who?” Xukun walked away, feigning innocence.

“Xiaojun. Where is he?”

“He’s fine.” Xukun poured out some water in a paper cup and leaned against the dispenser. “Tired and a little scratched up, but at least he’s breathing.”

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”

“You don’t, but it’s a better alternative to the scenario in your head.”

Taeyong looked back at the nursery and back at him. “What do you want?”

“I asked for it.”

“I’m still on it.”

“Clock is ticking. In 26 hours, I want those files.”

“And you will have it.” Taeyong said. “Tell us where.”

Xukun contemplated for a bit as he finished his cup of water. He took out a slip of paper and handed it to Taeyong.

“More coordinates?”

“It’s not a place you can just ask a cabbie for.” Xukun said. “26 hours.”

“We’ll be there.”

“Answer me this one thing,” Xukun said. “Why the boy? Why did you take him in when no one else will? Why him when even his country abandoned him?”

“It’s my calling.” Taeyong folded the paper. “I take ashes and turn them into dynamite. You, however,” Taeyong walked towards Xukun. “I will let you burn.”

“If I do, I will drag you down with me.” Xukun said. “If I burn, I am taking this god damn city and everyone with me.” And with that, he walked away.

Taeyong waited for a few minutes. He walked to the corner and leaned his back against the wall. “Did you get that?” he asked.

“Every word.” Kun stood up from behind the water dispenser and tapped some buttons on his phone. “I’m sending the file to Doyoung now.”

“If he wants to burn,” Taeyong crunched the paper in his fist. “We’ll let him burn.”

***************************

** _Countdown: 24 Hours_ **

Lucas was in awe at the number of people flooding into Taeil’s basement. There was Mark and all of his friends, Johnny bought a skinny little kid with him and even Chenle and Hendery arrived. They have only 24 hours left before the deadline.

“Wow.” Lucas grinned. “Now this feels like a gang.”

“Yeah.” Jungwoo mumbled softly.

“You okay?” he asked, reaching for his lower back.

“It’s the nerves.” Jungwoo admitted. “We are planning an ambush with only 20 something hours left.”

“It’ll be fine babe.”

“Yeah but we’ve done this before in Rome. We…”

Lucas kissed him softly, cupping the side of his face. “This isn’t Rome, okay? This isn’t. We’ll be fine. We are going to save the boy, ship him to Canada and go back to selling crack, okay?”

“Okay.” Jungwoo leaned in to kiss him. He trusted Lucas more than anyone else, and if he said they were fine, they were fine.

“Hey hey hey,” Ten yelled at them. “Put the tongue away, that’s indecent.”

“Oh that’s rich coming from you.” Lucas rolled his eyes. “You…”

“Attention,” Taeyong clapped his hands loudly. “Okay listen up, introductions and play time is over. We have exactly 24 hours left to save our boy. His name is Xiao Dejun, now known as Xiaojun.” He pointed to a photo on the table. He was taken from us a few days ago and Nine Percent is holding him for ransom. Donghyuck, have you found anything?”

“Negative.” He shook his head. “We didn’t find anything suspicious. Jaemin and Sicheng hacked his laptop but nothing strange.”

“Fine, then we’ll have to go with our second plan, a full blown hostage rescue.” Taeyong said. “Do you have the plans Renjun?”

“I do.” Renjun unfurled a large architecture floor plan of the building using the coordinates Taeyong provided. “Doyoung and I went to the land office and found this blueprint. We’ve mapped out all possible escape routes.”

“What’s our hostage rescue plan?” Jeno asked.

“Doyoung, Kun and I are going in through the main entrance to negotiate with them.” Taeyong said. “I need level headed people going in with me. Lucas, Jungwoo and Mark are going to sneak in and plant the bombs.”

“What bombs?” Yangyang asked.

“These bombs.” Chenle and Hendery lifted their suitcases on the table and opened it to reveal silver orbs.

“Each bomb is connected to this remote and annotated by the number.” Hendery said. “They can be activated individually or altogether.”

“We’ll need to carefully plan where each bomb is going to go.” Jaehyun said. “They should be a distraction, but they shouldn’t accidentally bomb Xiaojun.”

“He’s right.” Taeyong said. “We’ll finalise those plans later. Once the members have been distracted or if you see even a window of opportunity, Jaehyun I want you and Jeno to swoop in and focus on getting the boy. Johnny, Sicheng and Ten, you will direct the bomb droppers from a distance and activate the bomb on my command. Yuta, you’re driving the van so that we can run away fast.

“Who’s driving the runaway car?”

“I am.” Yangyang raised his hand.

“Jeno and Jaehyun, you guys get into Yangyang’s car and get the hell out of there. The rest of us will hold the fort. Your focus is to get to here.” Taeyong pointed at the ground. “This is going to be our home base.”

“Got you.”

“What about us?” Jaemin asked.

“I need someone to hold the fort here. All of you, including Donghyuck and except Jeno is staying here. Jeno, you’ll be joining us.”

“Why him?” Jaemin asked.

“And us?” Jisung asked.

“You two and Hendery stay here. I need trained people for this mission.”

“That’s not fair.” Chenle pouted. “I’m always cut out of the fun.”

“It’s for your safety.” Mark said.

“Yeah and besides you are grounded.” Kun scolded him. “This is for lying to me all this time.”

“I didn’t lie, I just forgot to tell you!” he whined.

“Are you sure this is going to work?” Ten asked.

“It has to.” Johnny said. “We don’t have a choice if it doesn’t.”

***************************

** _Countdown: 2 hours_ **

“I look like I’m dressed for my own funeral.” Doyoung said as he looked in the reflection of the car in front of him.

“That would make you a hot corpse.” Jaehyun chuckled, putting his gun strap on.

“If I die, what would you do?”

“Kill the ones who killed you.” Jaehyun dusted the lint off his jacket. “Unless they are all dead.”

“I’m serious Jae.”

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to think about it.” Jaehyun cupped his face. “I got you. You’ll be safe.”

“Come on.” Taeyong called. “Let’s go.”

Jaehyun kissed him and got into the van. Doyoung got into the backseat with Kun in the driver’s seat. They drove ahead with the van leaving 5 minutes after them.

“Nervous?” Taeyong asked Kun.

“I always am, before a case.” Kun said. “I used to be on standby in the hospital, but now I’m in the field. It’s intimidating.”

“It is.” Taeyong said. “We’ll get him.”

“Of course.” Kun slipped a hand into Taeyong’s. Taeyong kissed the back of it softly for comfort.

They finally arrived a large, abandoned school building. It was in close proximity with the airport. It seems like they were getting ready to run after obtaining the information. Taeyong beat himself up a little for not thinking about that earlier.

“Hello?” Taeyong called as he entered the school compounds. They walked through the foyer and into a dusty hall. “Hello?”

A switch was clicked on and a strobe of light dashed across the room. It was a projector light that was displayed against the wall and an old Phantom of the Opera movie started playing.

“What the fuck?” Doyoung made a face. “Did we come here to watch a movie or pay off the ransom?”

“Cai Xukun???” Taeyong called but there was no response. The movie played, showing a beautiful woman in a dress singing opera. As her notes climaxed, the air in the room got chillier. Then, just as she reached her highest note, a figure dropped down from the ceiling, dangled by a rope.

“FUCK!!!” The three of them jumped back in horror. Kun walked over to the dangling body and poked it. “It’s made of newspaper.” He grabbed the doll and removed its fake wig. “This is a fake.”

“Cai Xukun where the fuck are you?!?!” Taeyong roared.

The movie was shut off immediately. “I take it you don’t enjoy the opera?” Xukun walked out from behind them. He was flanked by Chengcheng, Xiaogui and Ziyi.

“Where’s the boy?”

“Where’s the files?”

“I’m not handing over anything until I can see the boy.”

Xukun snapped his fingers and Zhengting and Justin dragged Xiaojun in. He was tied with his hands behind his back and gagged, but anyone could tell he was relieved to see Taeyong, Kun and Doyoung. He tried to scream through his gag but barely any sound could be heard.

“Like I promised, not a scratch.”

“Remove his gag.”

“That’s not part of the deal.”

“It is now.”

Xiaogui removed his gag and Xiaojun panted for breath. “Hyung!!”

“Xiaojun,” the three of them walked to him. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”

Xiaojun shook his head. “No. They tried…”

“Are you sure you don’t have anything on you?” Kun whispered carefully.

“No, I swear.” Xiaojun sniffled, his body covered in sweat. “I don’t know anything.”

“Time is ticking.” Xukun tapped on his watch loudly. “Where is it?”

Doyoung looked outside for a bit and prayed.

_I hope Lucas, Jungwoo and Mark are okay._

***************************

“Turn left on your next corner.” Ten spoke into the walkie talkie as he watched Lucas, Jungwoo and Mark move on Sicheng’s computer. “Bomb no. 5 goes there.”

Lucas placed the silver orb on the ground, sniper in his arms as he looked around. “Done.”

“Xiaojun’s alive.” Sicheng said, pressing his listening device closer into his ear. “I can hear them talking.”

“How long do we have to go till we drop all 10 bombs?” Johnny asked.

“It shouldn’t be much longer.” Ten answered him before focusing on the walkie talkie. “Okay, go straight until you see a window.”

Yuta tapped his foot on the floor of the van anxiously. He looked outside the window with the building in a distance. Taeyong’s car was parked by the side of the road. An unsuspicious group of tourists rode past it.

It was calm. Almost too calm. He gulped loudly.

_I’ve got a bad feeling about this._

***************************

“This is just ridiculous.” Chenle bounced a rubber ball off the wall of his lab. “I can’t believe we’re stuck here like some kids in detention.”

“It technically does feel like detention.”

“I didn’t know detention came with WiFi, a TV and a microwave.” Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky we managed to convince them to move base here. At least we didn’t need to be stuck in Taeil’s scruffy basement.”

“Watch it kid,” Taeil lifted his head from his nap. “Or you’ll be scrubbing the bathrooms again.”

“I wanted to be out there with the action.” Chenle pouted. “It would have been so much fun to kick their asses and watch my bombs blow up in their faces.”

“We could find something else to do.” Jaemin shrugged. “Let’s play a game or something.”

A knock came on the door of the lab. “Oh,” Gerta paused. “I’m sorry boss. I didn’t know you have company.”

“It’s fine.” Chenle said. “Did you need something?”

“Just wanted to get some materials.”

“Go ahead.”

Jaemin rolled over closer to Renjun. “You’ve been staring at those bunch of papers since yesterday. Forget it Renjun.”

“It doesn’t make sense.” Renjun’s eyebrows knotted together as he stared at the papers. “These receipts don’t add up. They are all from different dates. Some in 2007, some in 2016, some in 2019, even the locations are from different parts of China. Why would anyone keep a random collection of receipts for no reason?”

“Maybe they have a sentimental value to him.” Donghyuck shrugged.

“That’s not it.” Renjun said. “Something is here.”

Jisung turned to Chenle as he reached for one of Xiaojun’s puzzle books. “Did you do this when you were a kid?”

“Oh yeah! These are a lot of fun!” Chenle said. “They were like codes for kids. We used to learn them and play James Bond and pass secret messages.”

“What messages?”

“Mostly about who has a crush on who in elementary school. Our secrets weren’t that deep.”

“What was the easiest code to learn?” Donghyuck asked.

“I think it’s the one where you just take the first letters of each sentence and it forms a code. The whole paragraph won’t make sense but it’s the easiest.” Chenle took a piece of paper to scribble down stuff. “You could also…”

“FUUUUCK YES!!!” Renjun bounced up and down. He ran all around the lab before pulling Chenle in his arms. “Thank you thank you thank you!!!” he kissed his cheeks repeatedly while Chenle yelped.

“Ew no get away you old man!!!”

“What is it?” Taeil asked.

“I solved it. I solved the puzzle.” Renjun beamed proudly.

“What puzzle?” Jaemin raised an eyebrow.

“The receipts!!!” Renjun held them as if they were money. “These receipts weren’t random, they were trying to spell a message!!”

“What message?” Everyone crowded around him.

“Look at this one. It has three items.” Renjun pointed. “The first letter of each item forms a person’s name.”

“It does!” Chenle picked it up. “Wait a minute, isn’t this guy one of the party members?” he turned to Renjun and started talking in rapid fire Chinese.

“Wait a minute are you guys sure?” Taeil asked.

“We are damn sure about this.” Renjun said. “This one has 7 items, it makes two names. This one has three, it makes one name. This one has 8, it makes another two names. I think there are almost 8 people we could name here.”

“Wait if the receipts make names, what else do his documents have to say?” Jisung asked.

“We better find out. I need my laptop.” Jaemin said as he ran out the lab.

“I need my phone.” Jisung said as he dashed out.

“I need to call someone to tell them we cracked it.” Donghyuck turned around and reached for his phone to dial Yuta’s number.

“Hello?”

“Yuta hyung? Hyung!! We cracked it! We know where…” Donghyuck turned around. “Fuck.”

“What?” Yuta asked.

“The papers.” Donghyuck reached for the table. “The fucking papers are gone!!”

“What papers?”

“The papers have the code on them!!!” Donghyuck stomped his foot. “The papers have the names they were looking for. Holy shit!!!”

“Hyuck?” Taeil came back with Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung. “Where are the papers?”

“I swear to you I don’t know! I turned around to make a call and they were gone!!” Donghyuck panicked.

“They must be here somewhere.” Everyone got down on their knees to look for the papers. “Hang on,” Chenle said. “Where’s Gerta?”

“Gerta has the papers.” Jisung gasped.

“We have to find her!!” all of them dashed out of the lab and ran down the hallway. Chenle called Hendery on his phone. “Hendery!!! You have to find Gerta! She stole the papers we used…”

“Hold it right there.” A man stood at the end with a gun in his hand.

“Boss?” Hendery called. “Boss are you okay?”

“Gimme the phone.” The gunman extended his hand.

“Boss?! Boss where are you?!”

Chenle shakily handed over his phone and watched him crush the phone into pieces. He was huge, almost the size of an NBA player and his body was enormous. He pointed the gun at their foreheads, and they stepped back with their hands in the air.

“Nobody move.” He said in raspy, accented Korean.

“You’re with Nine Percent, aren’t you?” Renjun asked in Chinese. “Where’s Gerta? Why is she with them?”

“None of your fucking business.” He spat out.

“Listen, I have a lot of money okay?” Chenle said. “My grandpa is like, stupid rich. He can buy you anything, a car, a house, maybe even a wife. How does that sound?”

The man grunted and moved forward, causing everyone to step back. With the way he breathed he sounded like the Hulk with pork on his breath.

“You don’t have to do this,” Renjun tried, “Just let us go and we’ll…”

The man grunted again, and they stepped further back.

“Does he even speak?” Jaemin whispered to Jisung. “All he does is just grunt.”

“Okay, you don’t want money, that’s fine.” Chenle tried again. “Odd as hell but hey, maybe you have lots of them, or maybe it’s not important, but 4 young boys and one old…”

“Excuse me?!” Taeil glared at him.

“Okay 4 young boys and one quarter crisis man isn’t really worth it.” Chenle pleaded. “What are you going to do with us? Eat us? I’m too small, I barely have enough meat on my bones! And Jisung is all bone!”

“Now’s not the time to bring up my figure!” Jisung yelped when he saw the gun move.

Huge Hulk breathed and was about to step forward when suddenly he stopped his movements and his eyes rolled into the back of his head. He dropped his gun and lost his balance.

“TIMBER!!!” Jaemin yelled as Hulk fell forward with a syringe in his back. Hendery was shaking and panting behind him.

“That’ll keep him knocked out for 12 hours, I think.” He panted. “I don’t know, this was one of the experimental weapons.”

“Quick, get some rope and tie him up!” Taeil said. “Hendery, fire up the car. We have to get to them before Gerta blows it up for us.”

***************************

“Here.” Doyoung brought out a USB from his pocket. “It’s in here.”

“Fantastic.” Xukun said, “Hand it over.”

“Not until Xiaojun is on our side.”

“Well we can’t give him to you unless we know what is inside is what we want.”

Doyoung checked with Taeyong who nodded. He handed the USB drive over and Xukun passed it to Linong, who stuck it into a laptop. Xukun checked the contents with Linong, slowly reading through its contents.

Taeyong gulped thickly. He turned to Kun who gave him a subtle thumbs up. They had spent hours fabricating that piece of evidence, hoping to pull the wool over their eyes. He didn’t dare breathe until minutes later when Xukun clapped his hands.

“Bravo.” He smiled. “I didn’t think you could do it, but you did.”

“We held our end of the bargain. Give us the kid now.” Taeyong ordered.

“Ziyi.” Xukun called and Ziyi untied Xiaojun. He pushed him over to Doyoung and Kun where he fell into their arms and started crying through his gag.

“Looks like we’re done.” Xukun made a face. “That was easier than I…”

“XUKUN!!!!” a shrill female voice called from outside. Taeyong reached for his gun immediately. _Fuck fuck fuck._

“XUKUN!!!” She called again as she ran inside with the lab coat and glasses, hair in messy pigtails and she carried a bunch of paper with her. “I found it!!”

“Found what?”

“The list.” She panted. “They were coded on these receipts. This book,” she held up Xiaojun’s journal “Might also have some more information in them.”

“No.” Xiaojun started crying.

“Fuck Xiaojun,” Kun cursed quietly. “Are they actually in there?!”

Xiaojun had no idea. Taeyong felt blood go cold in his veins.

“You lied to us.” Xukun looked up.

“We found those and turned them into a PDF for you.” He said.

“Oh Yongie,” Xukun raised his gun and Taeyong drew his at the same time. “You know better than to lie to me.”

“Now.” Taeyong whispered into his earpiece to Sicheng.

“You heard him.” Sicheng told Johnny.

“Bomb number one, fire.” Johnny pressed a button and the first bomb went off in the right wing of the building. The tremor was powerful enough to trigger the hall they were at.

“What was that?” Chengcheng looked around.

“What the fuck are you trying to pull?!” Xukun growled.

The second bomb went off and the members of Nine Percent started running out to check on the commotion. The third bomb went off and this time it was close enough to shake the whole hall and everyone fell onto their knees. The ceiling started to crack and crumble.

“Bomb number four, fire!!” Johnny warned as he triggered another bomb. Just then, Jaehyun and Jeno ran in and hoisted Xiaojun on his feet.

“Get him out of here, run!!”

“DON’T LET THEM LEAVE THIS BUILDING!!!” Xukun ordered and all of Nine Percent came to his side. Guns started to fire as Lucas, Jungwoo and Mark rushed in with their snipers to try and take down some of the members. Bomb number 5 went off and the east wing building started to fall down. One of Mark’s bullets hit an exposed live wire and a fire started.

“Run run run!!!” Taeyong commanded. “Get Xiaojun out of here! Yangyang!”

As if the timing was perfect, Yangyang showed up outside in his bulletproof car. Jeno pushed Xiaojun inside the car as Jaehyun fired some more shots.

“Let’s go!” Jeno pulled Jaehyun back in and Yangyang took off immediately, leaving a trail of smoke and the smell of rubber behind.

“Taeyong!!!” Johnny roared into the earpiece “Get out of there!!”

“On my command,” Taeyong ordered as he ran outside and made sure his crew was with him. “Fire bomb 7.”

Lucas was the last to dash outside the foyer. “NOW!!”

Bomb 7 blew up the foyer and created a massive sink hole. Some of the members accidentally fell in and it gave them enough time to run away. They scrambled inside their cars and vans. “Blow the whole place up Johnny.” Taeyong ordered as Kun drove them away.

“You sure?”

“Xukun wanted to burn.” Taeyong said. “Roast this motherfucker.”

In 5 seconds, the entire building exploded in a heap of rubble. The fire Mark accidentally started has now enveloped the area and replaced the rubble with smoke. All three cars reconvened at the same place to watch the fire destroy everything in its place.

“Wow.” Jungwoo mumbled.

“I can’t believe we did it.” Yuta held a hand to his chest. Sicheng patted his back and reached for his hand.

“Thanks Yangyang.” Johnny said. “You got them out fast.”

“It’s no big deal.” The young driver smirked. “You still owe me though.”

“You guys saved me.” Xiaojun finally spoke up, his face covered in tears, sweat and dirt.

“We got you.” Kun hugged him. “We got you.”

Another car rolled up from a distance. Donghyuck was the first to jump out. “Xiaojun!!”

“Donghyuck!!”

“Oh my god!!” Donghyuck held him in his arms. “Oh my god you’re safe!”

“You guys,” he sniffled as he was wrapped in a tight hug by them. “Hyung…” he smiled at Taeil.

“You’re safe. You’re with family now.” He smiled at the young boy and kissed the top of his head. “Thank god you’re alive.”

“He…Hendery.” Xiaojun stopped in his tracks.

“My god,” Hendery rushed forward to hug him. “I thought you were… you were…”

“I know,” Xiaojun managed to let out a tired laugh. “I thought I was going to die too.”

“I’m never letting you go Xiaojun.” Hendery pulled him close and stroked his face. “Not ever.”

There was a brief moment of tension between them before Xiaojun buried his face in his chest. Donghyuck eyed them for a bit and smiled.

“Hey you,” Mark walked up to him, his thick bulletproof padding was gone and he was left in only his thin black shirt, rolled up to reveal his sweaty arms and his gun strap around his waist.

“You’re alive.”

“You don’t seem surprised anymore.”

“What’s to be surprised when I know you will be?” Donghyuck smiled as he reached for his hand. “And you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because you said you will be, and I trust you.”

Mark pulled him into his arms and kissed him. He rubbed the scar on his forehead softly, as if his massaging would make it disappear. Donghyuck deepened the kiss and pulled Mark close. He was just thankful he was alive. Mark snuck his hand under Donghyuck’s shirt, gripping his skin to feel him under his touch.

“You made it!” Renjun and Jaemin patted Jeno’s back.

“I did.” Jeno smiled as he wiped sweat off his forehead.

“Are you okay?” Renjun asked.

“I’m fine.”

“How was it like shooting a gun?”

Jeno looked down at the pistol in his hand and grinned. “It was fucking amazing.”

“Not going to lie,” Renjun’s hand ran further up his arm. “This is a pretty hot look for you.” Jeno smirked and took him in his arms, kissing him passionately.

“Where’s Gerta?” Taeil asked.

“Who’s Gerta?” Johnny made a face.

“My ex lab scientist.” Chenle said. “She was the one who stole our papers while we were cracking the code.”

“Who figured it out?”

“Renjun did.” Jaemin raised Renjun’s hand.

“Well the papers are still inside.” Taeyong said. “If what you said was true, then the secret Ms Chen left behind is now gone forever. We won’t have it and neither will anybody else.”

“Then that’s it,” Xiaojun frowned. “My mother’s legacy is gone. All of her hard work was for nothing.”

“No it isn’t.” Taeyong said. “Your mother wanted to make an impact. Those few scraps of paper was only part of it. She put out her book. She spoke in front of the public. She met congressmen and politicians. She had the whole world listening to her. Her legacy remains.” He smiled at him. “It won’t be replaced. It’s going to live on.”

“Do you think Nine Percent is really dead?” Sicheng asked.

“I don’t see how anyone could survive that.” Kun said.

“You never know,” Taeyong sighed. “Either way, they won’t bother us for a long time. Let’s go before the real cops show up this time.”

The cops couldn’t explain the sudden explosion. There was the body a dead female scientist there and it was later ruled as a freak scientific accident. No one was shocked to learn it was only one body, and the man in Chenle’s lab had disappeared when they went home.

Nine Percent was still out there somewhere. No one knew how they escaped but it didn’t matter. They wouldn’t be hearing from them for a long, long time.

***************************

**Three Months Later**

“Xiaojun!!” Doyoung ran up the stairs of the Joker with a piece of paper in his hands. He opened the lounge and found Mark and his friends sitting around playing pool. “I have… what the fuck Zhong Chenle get your feet off the couch.”

“I’m not wearing shoes!” the teenager snapped.

“You’re still wearing smelly ass socks! Get your feet off!”

“Fine!” Chenle groaned.

“What is it?” Xiaojun asked.

“It’s your Visa to Canada. It’s finally done.” Doyoung said. “You can go over now as per your mother’s wishes.”

“Do you have to?” Jisung asked but Jeno shushed him.

“It’s your choice.” Doyoung said. “We won’t stop you from going.”

“What’s all the fuss about?” Johnny asked as he entered the lounge with Yangyang, Yuta and Jaehyun.

“His visa is here.”

“Awesome!” Johnny exclaimed. “Let me go get Ten and Taeyong.”

“What are you doing here?” Xiaojun gave Yangyang a fist bump.

“Johnny took one of my cars around the track for a bit, so I thought I’d drop by and say hi.” He beamed.

“That sounds like fun! Can I ride in it someday?” Jaemin asked.

“You got 500 bucks?” Yangyang smirked.

“Can you settle for 20 bucks and a coupon to Taeil’s café?” Jaemin tried and shrugged.

“The visa is here!” Taeyong threw his hands in the air. “Finally! I was wondering when it was going to get here.”

“Immigration stuff takes forever,” Doyoung rolled his eyes. “Even after you buy them caviar, they still go by the ‘working day’ rule.”

“So are you going to go?” Mark asked him.

Xiaojun looked around the room and back at the piece of paper in his hands. To everyone’s shock, he ripped the paper into two and turned it into shreds.

“Wh…what?” Ten mumbled.

“I don’t want to go.” Xiaojun said. “My family is here, with you. The ones who saved me, took me in and helped me make friends. The ones who made me feel like a normal kid again, and not some fugitive with something to hide.”

“Are you sure about this?” Jaehyun asked him.

“Yeah because that’s just one copy, I can get the lady at the embassy to…” Doyoung continued but Xiaojun stopped him.

“I’m sure.” He smiled. “If, you’ll have me.”

“What do you think Tae?” Johnny turned to Taeyong. “Is he one of us?”

Taeyong looked around the room. A few years ago, if you asked him that question, he would say no. This family was big enough for him to handle.

“I don’t know,” Taeyong turned to Kun. “What do you think?”

“Me?” Kun’s eyes widened.

“Of course.” Taeyong said. “Your thoughts weigh just as heavily as mine, partner.”

Kun blushed deeply. This was the first time Taeyong called him partner. Ten smiled at him proudly and rubbed his lower back while Johnny gave him a thumbs up. “I say he is.”

“Then he is.” Taeyong opened his arms.

The whole room cheered when Taeyong embraced him. Kun hugged him as well and ruffled his hair. The teenagers started clapping and bouncing on the couch to celebrate.

“This is amazing!!” Jisung grinned. “I have to tell Taeil hyung, he’s going to be so thrilled his favourite dishwasher is staying!”

“You know who else will be thrilled?” Renjun wriggled his eyebrows with Donghyuck. “_Hendery_…” they sing-songed.

“Shut up!!” Xiaojun blushed. “We’re just friends!”

“Bullshit, do friends look at each other’s eyes like this?” Donghyuck turned Mark to face him and pretended to flirt with his gaze. Xiaojun pushed him in embarrassment. “I DO NOT DO THAT!!”

“No way,” Yangyang shook his head. “I third wheeled you guys ONCE on a movie date and I can attest, you most certainly do that.”

“Do not!!” Xiaojun blushed but Donghyuck could not stop teasing him. Taeyong laughed and patted him on the back.

“_Now _you are truly one of us.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is it. The culmination of 4 months or longer worth of scribbles, drafts and writer's blocks just to get here. Now that there are no more secrets and their identities have been revealed, it opens up for a brand new chapter in this entire universe. Not sure what that is but we'll see in the future. Thank you so much for your patience and your unwavering support. I keep saying this but I honestly don't know how you guys put up with me TT This story wouldn't be where it is without every single one of you.


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